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Mr Nobody Close Reading

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Mr Nobody Close Reading

Read the original poem below. Then investigate how its speaker describes an unseen visitor. Use evidence from the poem in your answers.

Mr Nobody

At dawn, the pantry door stood wide, A biscuit trail crossed the floor. The kettle sighed; the curtains swayed— But no one had used the door. A muddy print marked the hallway rug, One sock hung from a chair. “Mr Nobody’s been here again,” My brother said to the air. He borrows the last slice, leaves taps to drip, And nudges the garden gate. He never waves or signs his name; He’s always just too late. Yet when the wind flings leaves at night And rattles the old tin shed, I wonder if Nobody walks alone, With a whole town in his head.

Read closely

Answer using details from the poem. For questions asking for an explanation, support your idea with a quotation or a precise reference.

1.What has happened in the pantry at dawn? Choose the best answer.

Someone has left a trail of biscuits after opening the pantry.
The speaker has baked biscuits for the neighbours.
The wind has blown the pantry door off its hinges.
The family has packed food for a trip.

2.Find two clues in the first two stanzas that suggest somebody has been in the house, even though nobody is seen.

3.In “The kettle sighed; the curtains swayed”, what effect does giving the kettle a human action create?

4.The brother says, “Mr Nobody’s been here again”. What does the word “again” suggest about the unseen visitor?

This is a repeated pattern of unexplained mischief.
The brother has just met Mr Nobody for the first time.
The visitor has promised to return tomorrow.
The family knows exactly who made the mess.

5.What is the effect of the list of small actions in stanza three—borrowing the last slice, leaving taps dripping and nudging the gate?

6.Match each quotation to the language feature it uses.

“The kettle sighed”
“He never waves or signs his name”
“leaves taps to drip”

Contrast between presence and absence
Personification
Sound imagery

7.True or false: By the end of the poem, the speaker is certain that Mr Nobody is a real person.

TrueFalse

8.Complete the sentence: The mood shifts from in the first three stanzas to in the final stanza.

9.Explain how the final two lines change the way a reader might imagine Mr Nobody. Use one detail from the ending.

10.Which interpretation is best supported by the whole poem?

The poem uses a made-up culprit to turn everyday mess into a playful mystery, then hints at loneliness.
The poem is mainly a warning to keep every door locked.
The speaker proves that a ghost is responsible for the household mess.
The poem argues that nobody should ever share food.